Heavy-duty shaft couplings have traditionally had a couple of defining design characteristics. For one, these couplings usually rely on keyed shaft connections. For another, they tend to be overengineered with regard to stiffness.
In many ways, this design approach makes perfect sense. Keyed connections have a long track record and well-understood engineering requirements, which makes them the default choice in many applications. And stiffness has obvious engineering virtues when it comes to transmitting power with maximum efficiency.
Yet keyed connections and excessively rigid coupling designs do have some under-recognized limitations—especially in large industrial, material handling, construction and mining machines. These limitations include reduced torque transmission, alignment difficulties, wear and costly assembly requirements.
In our latest white paper, we’ll look at a couple of heavy-duty applications that highlight the limitations of traditional coupling designs.
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